Forum willing to ask people "to meet the government at the polls"
The FORUM, an umbrella organisation of 12 unions, is ready to take on the example of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions and do what the latter did in 1971, when it called on the people in a rally and asked them to go and meet the government at the...
The FORUM, an umbrella organisation of 12 unions, is ready to take on the example of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions and do what the latter did in 1971, when it called on the people in a rally and asked them to go and meet the government at the polls.
Addressing a news conference on the steps on Castille, because of its exclusion from the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development, Forum president John Bencini said Forum was ready to do the same before the next election unless it was given a seat on the council.
Two members of the MCESD, he claimed, were holding the government to ransom.
Mr Bencini criticised the system which calculated the cost of living adjustment saying this was faulty and needed to be changed because the proposed €1.16 increase did not reflect the additional costs families were faced with in the past year.
He went through a number of proposals made during the last budget, which, he said, were not implemented or very little was done about them.
These included the micro credit scheme for SMEs, measures promised to reduce hospital waiting lists, the island’s connection to the European energy grid, the setting up of a consumer agency and the establishment of a creative economy, which remained a buzz word.
The forum, Mr Bencini said, was presenting a letter at the Finance Ministry requesting a meeting with the minister.
It agreed, he said, that a debate should start on the living wage proposal and that the government should seek to change the anomalies in the present pension system.
The government should also address the problem of people who stopped studying and family friendly measures introduced within the civil service should be extended to the private sector.
The forum, Mr Bencini said, expected this budget to reduce burdens on workers while addressing unemployment and social poverty.
He asked if capital projects were coming before the people’s standard of living.
See also:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101015/local/forum-did-not-move-any-proposals-for-the-budget-ministry